


Unsung Genius

by Praemonitor



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Thrawn Series - Timothy Zahn (2017)
Genre: And Knows His Brother Too Well, Ar'alani Eyerolls Everyone, Character Study, Chiss (Star Wars), Chiss Ascendancy (Star Wars), Chiss Politics, Chissmas In July, Eli Vanto Loves Math, M/M, Missing Scene, One Shot, Pre-Relationship, Star Wars: Thrawn: Treason Spoilers, Thrass is Amused, Why Thrawn Sent Eli to the Chiss Ascendancy, mystery solved
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-18
Updated: 2019-08-18
Packaged: 2020-09-08 02:48:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20286289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Praemonitor/pseuds/Praemonitor
Summary: Grand Admiral Thrawn had many reasons for sending Eli Vanto to the Chiss Ascendancy. All of them made good tactical sense. Well, most of them. Some of them. One of them. Maybe.Or: a Thranto fic costarring Thrass, who knows his little brother better than anyone, and Admiral Ar'alani being so incredibly done with these eccentrics from House Mitth.





	Unsung Genius

After a decisive victory at Batonn and promotion to the grand admiralty, Thrawn spent far more time in meetings than he cared to.

He never liked politics. That was his elder brother's domain. Thrass belonged in government, Thrawn on the bridge and battlefield. A true leader stands at the front lines, alongside his fellow soldiers.

Not hidden away in a council.

But when Emperor Palpatine summons you to Coruscant, you go.

Hooded and cloaked, the emperor sat upon his palatial throne while Thrawn stood in uniform, at parade rest. They were alone, for better or worse, discussing fleet logistics and TIE defender funds. Mundane topics, really.

Certainly not reason enough to arrange a private, in-person audience.

Eventually, the conversation shifted.

"I read your report from Batonn. The Chimaera performed most admirably." Palpatine steepled his fingers and tilted his head, just so. On a face riddled with wrinkles and scars, Thrawn found his expressions challenging to read, but not impossible. "Pass along my commendations to your crew."

"I will, your Majesty."

But the emperor wasn't finished. "I understand your administrative aide played a particularly pivotal role in the battle." His lip twitched. A sneer. A disturbingly sinister one. "Tell me about him, this… Lieutenant Commander Eli Vanto."

Outwardly, Thrawn betrayed nothing. Inside, he was screaming.

"There is little to tell." A lie, of course. The admiral hoped beyond hope that Palpatine wouldn't sense it. "Commander Vanto is a loyal officer and competent mathematician."

Objectively true, if a catastrophic understatement. He was more than loyal. He was more competent. Vanto was… Thrawn didn't know a word in Basic or Cheunh for what Vanto was.

_Everything,_ whispered a treacherous voice, buried deep in his chest. _Everything and more._

"You have known each other for many years." Palpatine kept his tone conversational, but that curl in his upper lip was telling. "Since I assigned him as your translator."

"For which I am grateful." Again, the truth. Thrawn knew better than to try his luck around a Force-sensitive. "Vanto serves me well."

"Ah, still just Vanto?" asked the emperor. "Or is he Eli behind closed doors?"

Thrawn's blood ran ice cold.

"My apologies, your Majesty, but I do not understa— "

"You, the indomitable Grand Admiral Mitth'raw'nuruodo, were once a soldier without weakness." From beneath his hood, Emperor Palpatine smiled his foulest smile. Those yellow eyes spoke of dark days to come. "But times change."

* * *

Times change, indeed.

Though at his core, Eli Vanto was still Eli Vanto.

A sassy, sarcastic Wild Space yokel and self-made mathematical genius. Same blush. Same twang. He grew into a bold, brilliant leader aboard the Chimaera, but there eventually came a day when he learned everything Thrawn had to teach.

And on that day, as dust settled over Batonn, he faced the very real possibility of losing his lieutenant commander — be it to death or promotion.

Whichever came first.

Thrawn knew, as he'd always known, it was only a matter of time before the Imperial navy saw potential in a Commodore Vanto. And perhaps, someday, even an Admiral Vanto.

Now, without bureaucracy and prejudice in the way, his protégé could ascend in rank almost as quickly as Thrawn himself. Vanto already had a good head on his shoulders, and an officer of his caliber deserved his own ship, his own crew, his own command.

The man could calculate hyperspace routes more accurately and efficiently than any computer. He could program flight trajectories in seconds and modulate shields in real time. Advanced calculus and quantum mechanics came to him as naturally as breathing.

Eli Vanto was a tactical goldmine.

And soon, when that fact became common knowledge, Thrawn would no longer be able to protect him. Dangers abound in the Empire, especially for those with unique and particular talents. Any day, any hour, Commander Vanto might be forcibly transferred from the Chimaera. He might be shunted into some top secret pet project, never to be seen or heard from again.

Thrawn clenched his fists in thinly veiled fury. Stealing an admiral's aide was the vindictive sort of stunt Director Krennic might pull. If only out of spite, just because he could.

And without thought or care for Vanto's career, his future, his wellbeing.

All it took was a word from the emperor. A single word, and Commander Vanto would vanish, forever beyond reach, as if he never existed. No more wisecracks. No more Wild Space slang. No more intellectual debates over morality and art and warfare.

Thrawn knew warfare. He studied warfare. Even against impossible odds, he could outthink and outgun and outmaneuver any opponent.

Any opponent, that is, except himself.

He could not turn a turbolaser upon emotions. He could not fire a blaster at feelings. He could not escape his own heart, a warrior's greatest asset and greatest weakness. 

When it came to Eli Vanto of Lysatra, objectivity flew out an airlock.

When it came to Eli Vanto of Lysatra, his judgement was clouded.

When it came to Eli Vanto of Lysatra, Thrawn conceded defeat.

And thus he arrived at the only logical solution: send his friend away.

Not what the admiral wanted to do, but rather what circumstance demanded. Very casually, very quietly, Commander Vanto must slip away from the Empire. Far, far away. The political landscape was no longer safe. Not with a rebellion on the horizon. Not with an impending civil war.

And certainly not with Sheev Palpatine in power, a tyrant as unpredictable and changing as the tide.

But how to convince the eternally loyal lieutenant commander to leave behind everything he knew, to abandon his oath, his duty, his ship, his admiral? And more importantly, where in the galaxy to hide him?

Nowhere was truly safe. Nowhere was free from the emperor.

Nowhere… except the Chiss Ascendancy.

* * *

And whatever Admiral Ar'alani expected this top-secret communiqué to be about, it was not employing a human in the Chiss Defense Fleet. "Are you out of your fucking mind, Mitth'raw'nuruodo?"

"I assure you," said Thrawn's holoprojection, sporting a white Imperial uniform, speaking native Cheunh with an acquired Core accent, "Commander Vanto is an exemplary officer, a credit to his species, with unparalleled prowess in statistics, physics, calculus, and— "

"I do not care how good he is at math." Ar'alani vetoed this ridiculous idea on principle. For security's sake, the Ascendancy operated under strict isolationism. No exceptions. "He is an Imperial. And an alien."

Thrawn stiffened. "He is my friend."

"That will not sway the Aristocra." Ar'alani rolled her eyes. He really had no instinct for politics. Stubborn and reckless, per usual. "Even if your brother lends support, the other syndics will never approve this folly."

Of course, only now did Grand Admiral Thrawn reveal the true length and breadth his scheme. "Vanto may be of particular and indispensable use in your genealogical surveys of the ozyly-esehembo."

That caught Ar'alani's attention.

"Explain."

He did. They discussed and debated the subject for hours. Thrawn was relentless, determined. This was even worse than his hyperfixation on artwork or obsession over inane details. Despite years serving the Empire, his devotion to his homeworld and his people never waned, never faltered.

He genuinely believed this human could help them. But altruism wasn't the whole story. It couldn't be. With Thrawn, nothing was ever that simple.

He was deeply invested in sending his most trusted commander and colleague to the Chiss Ascendancy. Deeply, personally invested. Point blank, Admiral Ar'alani demanded to know why.

Thrawn hesitated a moment. "Should Vanto remain here, within reach of Coruscant," he admitted, "his life is in grave and imminent danger."

And there it was. "Why?"

"Palpatine has… taken notice of him."

Ar'alani read between the lines. She wasn't as good at it as Thrawn himself, but she didn't need to be. "I suspect Palpatine has taken notice of him only because _you_ play favorites with your crewmen."

She'd never seen that look on Mitth'raw'nuruodo before — like she'd slapped him across the face, like she'd punched him in the gut. Guilt, sorrow, terror. He hung his head, ashamed.

His friend was in mortal peril. His dearest friend and closest confidante, by the sound of it. And this was all Thrawn's doing. This was all Thrawn's fault.

Wait a second.

Wait just a damn second.

She made a cognitive leap.

"Are you— " Ar'alani stuttered. She never stuttered. Ever. Holy shit. "Are you _in love_ with this human, this… Eli'van'to?"

And when Thrawn finally answered, she knew it was honest. There was no deception in his red eyes. None of his usual cleverness or carefully laid plans or subversion tactics.

His voice was shaky, unsure, maybe even frightened. "I do not know."

* * *

Admiral Ar'alani explained the situation to Thrass — the _entire_ situation.

He didn't stop laughing for three days.

Disconcerting, for sure. Syndics were usually straightlaced sticklers for law and order and protocol. Then again, House Mitth was best known for its eccentricity.

Weirdos, the lot of them.

Case in point, Thrass cackled so hysterically he had tears in his eyes. "We entrust my brother on undercover recon, and he immediately falls ass over head in love with an alien." Fortunately, they were alone in his office, where the Syndic of the Eighth Ruling Family might wipe dry his face in private. "What an indisputably Thrawnlike thing to do."

"Mitth'raw'nuruodo has also violated at least a dozen CDF mission parameters since joining the Empire." Ar'alani had never liked this plan anyway — inserting a Chiss so deep into enemy territory, no failsafes, no backup — and when the Aristocra appointed Thrawn, she liked it even less.

"My little brother has never followed a rule in his life." Thrass seemed utterly unperturbed. "Why ever would he start now?"

Admiral Ar'alani grew impatient. She flew the Steadfast back to Csilla for a simple yes or no, which she'd yet to receive. What a bureaucratic nightmare. "Have the syndics put it to vote yet? Shall we admit this human into the Chiss Defense Fleet?"

Though still grinning like a fool, Thrass finally regained some semblance of professionalism and composure. "Yes, on one condition."

The admiral quirked her brow.

"Once the Grysks are dealt with, you and your crew will return to Csilla for mandatory shore leave." Thrass was a most beloved, well-respected, and experienced politician, who currently looked like an overexcited child on his name day. "At which time, I should very much like to meet this… Eli'van'to."

**Author's Note:**

> It only now occurs to me that, despite one Eli N. Vanto being the sole focus of conversation and plot in this fic, said space cowboy does not actually appear in any scenes, nor speak any lines. He was probably too busy doing math. :)
> 
> Special dedication and shoutout to [everybodylovesshippos](https://everybodyloveshippos.tumblr.com) for the line ["Thrawn has never followed a rule in his life,"](https://everybodyloveshippos.tumblr.com/post/186948062579/i-finished-thrawn-treason-in-one-day-so-i) as well as his "unparalleled younger sibling energy." I just finished Thrawn: Treason and would love to scream/cry/discuss about it in the comments! I'm also on [Tumblr](https://praemonitor.tumblr.com), if you prefer.
> 
> Happy Star Wars!


End file.
